This is the best cake I have ever eaten. EVER! If I believed in reincarnation, I would come back as this cake. The recipe appeared a few days ago on “The Girl Who Ate Everything” and when I saw it my insides leapt for joy.
I have to admit, though, that cooking anything with this much butter was fairly intimidating, even for someone like me who was pretty much raised on pork fat and shortening. I am no stranger to fats and oils. Not bragging, just stating the facts. I should probably follow up this post with 12 super healthy recipes to make up for this one lapse in good judgement. But…wait till you taste this thing. Gosh!
Update 9/26/2012. For a great Autumn twist on this cinnamon roll cake, try Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake. Wildly delicious!
Cinnamon Roll Cake
All of the flavorful goodness of a cinnamon roll comes together in this easy-to-make cake.
Servings: 15 servings
Ingredients
Topping:
- 1 cup 2 sticks real butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose white flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1/2 cup 1 stick real butter, melted
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix the 2 sticks of softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans until well combined. Set aside.
- In an electric or stand mixer mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla.
- Once combined well, slowly stir in the 1/2 cup melted butter.
- Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
- Drop topping evenly over cake batter by the tablespoonsful and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out nearly clean from center
- Place powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Allow to cool before cutting.
- Cut into 15 serving pieces. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
This recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything via Picky Palate
The culprits. Dang them. The salt went on walk about during the photo shoot, but he was back in time for the party in the bowl.
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In a large bowl, put the softened butter (please, no margarine), brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
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Add the pecans…or leave them out. Your choice.
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Whip them up together until well blended. Set aside.
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Flour —check
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Salt–check
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Sugar–check
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Baking powder–check
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Egg–check
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Vanilla extract–check
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Milk–check.
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Everyone present and accounted for, Ma’am.
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Mix ingredients just until blended.
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With the mixer on low speed, pour in the melted butter slowly.
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Pour the batter into a buttered 9″ x 13″ pan.
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Spread the batter evenly in the pan.
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Okay, since I am posting these step-by-step photos nearly two years AFTER I posted this recipe, I need to make a clarification about this particular picture. I tried something new this time around with the topping. I softened it a little in the microwave before I put it on top of the batter. It was the same consistency as the batter and seemed to work okay, but it is not my favorite. Generally the topping is thicker than the batter and may seem as though it is not blending well with the batter. Honestly, it really should not “blend” with the batter. They are two different parts of this cake.
Please note: Do not make marbling the topping and batter too much of a concern. There will be “clumps” of topping. That’s the way it is supposed to be. DO NOT over-mix the batter and topping together. Simply drag the blade of the knife back and forth through the topping and batter. Some of the topping will stay on top of the batter and some of it will go to the bottom of the batter and some of it will tunnel all the way through the batter, top to bottom.
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Normally, this would not look quite so soupy. I am not a fan of this method and unltimately do not recommend it. Like I said previously, though, it still worked out okay.
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This is a picture I took two years ago the first time I made this cake. You can see the difference between the stiffer topping and the other picture which shows a more liquid topping. (I got the topping in the other picture a little bit too warm in the microwave. I probably won’t use that method again.)
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This is the baked cake prior to adding the glaze. You can see the texture of the cake, with its hills and valleys. There are tunnels where the topping melted through the cake–excellent. You will also see that there are some lighter parts where there is only cake. Everything else is a mix of cake and topping, generally with the topping resting above and the cake below.
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After the cake comes out of the oven, mix up the glaze. It comes together so easily.
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Pour the glaze over the warm cake. Cinnamon, butter, sugar, butter, sugar, butter, butter, flour and a couple of other things.
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So go make this cake. Eat one piece and give the rest away. The five forksful you eat right out of the pan when this thing is still warm from the oven does not count as your one piece.
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This is your piece…
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You may also like:
Cinnamon Cream Syrup
Cinnamony Sweet Cereal Crunch
Sour Cream Cinnamon Banana Bread
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This just looks so awesome! I am so afraid to make it with all that butter, esp since it’s only going to be for hubby and me!
cut back on the sugar and butter by 1/3 in the cake, make 1/2 the topping and it’d still be a very tasty cake, and not so hard on your poor liver.
n82: Got any friends? Invite ’em over. Or split the cake between two or more smaller pans and reduce the cooking time. Save one for yourself, give the others away. Or halve the recipe. Or print out a picture of the cake, put it on your fridge with a big sign that says, “I am a strong woman. I can walk away from ultimate evil.”
Goodness gracious, Terri. This looks fabulous!
Oh yes, Miss Jeanne. This is one insanely good dessert. Yes, oh yes.
this looks awesome and I am going to make it this afternoon! The BF will love it!!
Thank you for sharing! Debbi
That’s great! Drop back by and let me know how it works out for you.
Made this for a potluck tonight and it was quickly gone. Very good recipe for a big group!
So glad you and your guests enjoyed it! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
This looks delicious. I can’t wait to make it. Thank you for sharing.
Melissa, thank you. All I can say is that this is crazy good! I am forever grateful to the person that invented this recipe!
Anything worth come back as- reincarnated- is DEFINITELY worth catching my attention!
It looks fabulous!
Kristin, it IS fabulous. I wish I could meet the woman that invented it. She has my deepest admiration and awe!
Terri, I just pulled this cake out of the oven, and can’t wait to eat it! Your recipes are always awesome, and I also printed out your Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe from the TK Blog, -which is how I came across this cake. Thank you so much for the inspiration. I would die if I had to cook or bake the same thing all the time!!!
I made this yummy cake last night, and it is definitely a keeper. I did however have a little trouble with the topping. I don’t know if I just didn’t let the butter soften quite enough, but it was a little bit stiff and I had a hard time with the marbeling. I was a little overzealous, and most of the topping ended up on the bottom of the cake. Of course, it’s still good, but the presentation wasn’t quite as pretty as it should be. Next time I think I’ll melt the butter for the topping (or at least make sure the butter is really really soft) and see if that helps. There will be a next time! As always, thank you for the great recipes.
Hi Shari. I’m glad that you liked the recipe, but sorry that you had some trouble with swirling the topping. However, it does seem to me that I remember the topping as being a bit stiff. I think that the last time I made it (February) I used smaller dollops than tablespoon size to help counter this problem. I’ll get back to you on this in a day or two. My mom is coming for dinner tonight, so it would be a good time to make this cake again and refresh my memory! Since this has become, by far, the most visited recipe on my site (thanks to Pinterest), I really ought to spruce things up and do a step-by-step.
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving comments. All in all, it’s an intimidating thing to be a food blogger, so nice comments are always a plus. I appreciate your honesty in saying that you had trouble with the topping. But, like I said, I’ll make this cake tonight and remind myself of the “how-to’s.
I made the cake this morning to share with a friend and her family. I added 2 small peeled and chopped granny smith apples and only made half of the icing. It was fabulous!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Jennifer, adding chopped apples sounds really great. I’ll have to try that one as well.
This looks amazing, I can honestly believe it is one of your most visited posts. I’m hosting a brunch in December for my women’s club and trying to plan the menu now. Guess I have my first recipe! And, I think I will add the Granny Smith apples, sounds so much healthier, right!
Whew! Good girl; get on top of the menu now and when December rolls around you won’t have to stress about the food for the brunch. And yes, right about the apples. I think that they will taste great with this cake. I still haven’t tried it with the apples, but I’m thinking that this weekend will be a great time to give it a go. Cinnamon Roll Apple Cake–holy cow, even writing it sounds wonderful.
This recipe looks so delicious and easy! Thanks for sharing it!
You’re welcome. I think I’ll make some of this today. So. good.
I’ve made this before and it is delicious, but I just want to make sure-you use regular all purpose flour or self rising flour? I just said flour so I could’t remember…….please let me know! Thanks
Hi Jessica. All-purpose flour. I’ll note the type of flour in the recipe. Thanks for asking for clarification. ~Terri
Great! That is what I thought I remembered it being when I made before but just wanted to make sure. Thank you!!!
I really appreciate the time that you took to spell out every step along the way. Not all of us are natural born bakers and your descriptions and pictures helped me make this wonderful cake and I knew that it was probably going to come out good because I kept referring to your pictures to make sure it was looking somewhat the same.
Thank you very much!
Marilyn, I know what you mean about not being a natural born baker. Whenever I bake something and it turns out well, I am soooo surprised! I, too, like lots of step by step pictures whenever I am baking something new. It makes such a difference in my confidence level.
Congratulations on your success with making the cinnamon roll cake. It has become one of my favorite desserts. Have a great day! ~Terri
Took this cake to an after church luncheon & everyone, especially the men, devoured it.
One man took a spoon & scraped up all the crumbs which were left in the pan & was eating them with a spoon. I think he really liked..you think ? Now they ask me to bring to all church functions. You were right on the money, Best Cake l Ever Made & l even devoured it,
Post more of your buttery/sugar recipes, as my arteries are just fabulous! Thanks again.
Lucky you on the artery thing. You go girl!
Can this be baked in 2 or 3 loaf pans instead of 9×13?
Technically yes. If your pan size is for a one pound loaf (pan measures 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75), use three pans. If your pan size is for a 1.25 pound loaf (pan measures 9 x 5 x 2. 75 inches), use two pans. Your bake times will change because of the smaller surface area. It will take less time, but I am not sure how much. Start checking at about 10 or 15 minutes and go from there. Additionally, you could lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and start checking at 15 or 20 minutes. Sorry that I cannot be more precise.